Arguments for the Thesis that Our Current Society is in An Information Age - Essay Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: The Positive and Negative Arguments for the Thesis that Our Current Society is in An Information Age Information is very important in life and makes so many things happen in different societies and even the world. Without information, it would not be easy to conduct businesses and even to treat people, among many other things. This is the reason why information is very important. It keeps people informed. Because people live in a society where they are always informed of happenings in the society and the world, information has improved with so many technologies being developed. Information technology has enabled the development of phones, internet, pagers and so many systems that people use for communication among other things, and this has become part of their daily lives. This is the reason why this era is referred to as the information age. Information technology has enabled communication between business partners that are apart in the world through web conferences, emails and international calls. It does not involve computer literacy alone but involves how these computers work and their role in the communication, information processing and problem solving tasks. Based on the fact that information technology has developed different systems of communication, information processing and problem solving, the society has changed so that this era is referred to as the information age1. It is information age because so many things are done through information technology systems. Example is in the medical research where information has led to improvement in the techniques used in research for better health of the people. There are positive changes that the information era has brought to the society as well as the negative consequences. All these will be described in this paper. The Positive Attributes to the Information Age (Information Technology) As has been noted earlier, this era is referred to as the information age because of information technology that has enabled a lot of things to happen world wide. One of the benefits of this era is globalization. With information technology, the world has become closer so that it looks like one community (one village). One person can communicate with the other from one country to the other just the same way one can communicate with the other within a town. Efficient communication has been brought by the information technology of the current age. People can share information very quickly and efficiently all over the world irrespective of the tribes, languages and cultures2. People are of different cultures and languages. Since the development of information technology, the cultural gap between so many people all over the world has been bridged. People from different cultures can now communicate with each other making it easier for them to exchange ideas and views. This increases awareness among people hence reducing prejudice3. Information technology has led to creation of new employment opportunities. Because of the development of new things such as computer system analyzers, websites, computer hardware, software and so may others, new jobs have been created. People have to be trained on such areas to take up the newly created positions. In the current era, there are web designers, computer software developers, web managers, hardware developers, system analyzers and so many other information technology specialists4. Communication has been made easier, quicker, very efficient and cheaper. Just by sending an email, one can be able to communicate with another person in any part of the world depending on the availability of the resources. It has also been made easier since people can communicate through sending just a text message by use of phones. Efficiency is evident in the response received. When messages are sent through email or text messages through phones, there is always an instant response upon receiving the message by the receiver. Group communication has also been made possible. Heads of state or businessmen can communicate through video conferencing or web conferences5. Information technology through technological advancement has enabled speedy development in the medical field. Transfer of data from one region to the other for analysis of results for further research has been made easy and fast by the systems of information technology that currently exist. This has helped improve health care as health care provision depends on the available information about how to treat certain diseases or conditions, which have to be researched. Education: In this field, information technology has also had a positive impact. Learning has been made easy by the availability of learning resources on the internet. There are online learning schools, colleges and universities that help people gain knowledge. Since this information system has also enabled efficient communication, learning has also been made efficient. Students have had access to e-learning materials search as online journals, essays, articles and books from electronic libraries. Another positive effect of information technology is the fact that people can now work at home without inconveniences of transport. Before development of online working programs, people had to move from their homes to the working places. Moving from home to the area of work would mean considering transport costs, considering inconveniences brought by the transport system and not reaching work and so many others. Information technology has made those working at home save on transport costs as well as on time. It has also created convenience and flexibility in working habits6. Businesses have also improved. In the information age, people can do banking through online transactions. There are even means of getting money through phones which have been made possible by information technology. People can also do business through the internet. In the current age, advertisements are made through the internet and companies have their websites from where they handle their customers. An example is in the car industry. Cars are not manufactured in all countries, but they find their way into other countries just like other products. Ways of making sure that these cars reach different countries have been improved by information technology. Business transactions are done through the internet and the customer only has to receive the car at his or her door step. In addition, some companies have expanded to international and conduct their operations through the internet. Such companies hold meetings through web conferences which help them save time and costs. Businesses can also nowadays open for more time. There are businesses that operate for twenty four hours just because of the developments of information technology7. The business field has benefited a lot from the information technology that has currently changed the lives of so many people around the world. As indicated earlier, information era is about the change that information technology has brought to the world. It is about the use of computers in communication and solving of problems. Information technology has changed the system of operation of businesses by computerizing the processes. Computerizing these processes has streamlined them making them very cost effective. With the business processes cost effective, there is increased productivity leading to more profits, better working conditions (non strenuous) and better pay for workers8. There is also the issue of multi tasking. With information technology systems, people can work, communicate, bank, study and shop while online. Because of this people are able to do a lot of things than before hence maximize efficiency. Entertainment has also been made possible through the internet. People can watch movies, listen to music, play games, chat and do so many leisure activities on the internet9. The Negative Attributes to the Information Age Information technology has created employment, but on the other hand, it has also created unemployment. It has created outsourcing, downsizing and redundancy in jobs. Most lower-level jobs have therefore been eliminated leading to unemployment. Information technology has led to lack of privacy among the users of the new developed equipments and techniques. Emails can be hacked and cell phone signals intercepted making private information public information. The information age is an era of job insecurity. Due to development of new technologies and development of new positions, people fear losing their jobs. Since there are so many changes and new requirements coming up, people have to keep on learning to be sure of getting a job or securing a job10. Information technology has made the world a global village, but it has caused harm as well by doing this. It has led to the loss of the primary community cultures that previously existed in different parts of the world. An example is the language that most people use around the world. Community languages have been overshadowed by English which has become the primary language for communication in almost all activities. Another example is the kind of dressing that has been emulated by young people all over the world. Most young people dress like Americans do. Development of online communication and interaction discourages physical interaction which destroys what brings people together in the society. The society therefore becomes fragmented. In addition, people lose the human touch due to the cyber world which has becomes the means of communication, shopping, banking, working, and doing many other activities11. When people work at home, it is not easy to monitor their productivity. This can result in low performance in companies. People also lose their life styles as they do not have to dress for work, go for meetings (which have been made online) or physically interact with fellow work mates12. Conclusion The importance of information age is evident in the manner in which it has influenced people’s lives from leisure, to work, to business, hence influence on the whole society. The society of today has people with cell phones, fax machines, internet, pagers and PCs as the integral part of their culture and lives. It has however destroyed some people cultures which are important. References Small Business Bible, 2008, Some Advantages ad Disadvantages of Information Technology. Retrieved on 13th June 2009 from http://www.smallbusinessbible.org/advan_disadvan_informationtechnology.html Snellen, I. T M., Wim B. H. J. and van de Donk, 1998, Public Administration in An Information Age: A Handbook, Bernin, Germany: IOS Press. Read More